Handicapping the race for City Council speaker

Hopefuls jockey for NYC's second-most-powerful position.

For months, the race for the second-most-powerful city post—City Council speaker—was a sleepy affair involving just a few council members. But since the Democratic primary election, it has metastasized, with seemingly as many candidates as votes needed to win the position.

Christine Quinn, who is term-limited, will vacate her seat at the end of this year. By then, one of the 51 council members will likely have lined up the 26 or more colleagues' votes to succeed her. "The fantasy draft is over, and you've finally got all the players on the field now," one source said.

Race will play a role in the outcome. The next mayor and city comptroller will likely be white men, and if white state Sen. Daniel Squadron defeats Councilwoman Letitia James in the Oct. 1 runoff for public advocate, the council will feel pressure to elect its first minority speaker. Another factor is the 11-member Progressive Caucus, which expects to grow in number after backing six Democratic primary winners. But members might vote with their Democratic county leaders, the traditional horse-traders in council speaker races.

The contenders for council speaker are all Democrats:

—Mark Weprin: The chances of the well-liked son of a former Assembly speaker hinge on Queens Democratic leader Joseph Crowley. In the last two speaker's races, the county organization has settled for plum committee assignments in exchange for electing Manhattanites Gifford Miller and Ms. Quinn.

—Dan Garodnick: The Manhattan moderate's independence from the Queens, Brooklyn and Bronx Democratic county machines could endear him to the Progressive Caucus. Mr. Garodnick could be rewarded for ditching the comptroller's race to clear a path for Scott Stringer.

—Annabel Palma: The Bronx lawmaker is a possible compromise minority candidate, but insiders wonder how hard she will pursue the post.

—Jumaane Williams: The Progressive Caucus member from Brooklyn, a key voice in reforming stop-and-frisk, is popular with colleagues, but his conservative views on abortion and gay marriage are not.

—James Vacca: The Bronx councilman has been emerging from under the radar. He has the same problem as Mr. Weprin, Mr. Garodnick and others if the citywide offices are won by white men.

—Jimmy Van Bramer: Yet another white male, the Queens councilman has the advantage of being aligned with the Progressive Caucus and the Queens Democratic Party.

—Rosie Mendez: A Latina from Manhattan would balance the city's leadership ethnically and geographically. But she has not publicly acknowledged an interest in running.

Photo: nyc.gov
Brooklyn councilman Vincent Gentile has one term left.

—Vincent Gentile: The veteran Brooklyn councilman has only one term left, making him more attractive to colleagues who envision running for speaker in 2017. But the former state senator has not been especially powerful on the council.

—Melissa Mark-Viverito: A speaker candidate for at least a year, she co-chairs the Progressive Caucus and is Latina, which would diversify the citywide leadership even if the black Ms. James becomes public advocate. But even some progressives say she's not popular enough with colleagues.

—Inez Dickens: After jockeying for support for many months, Ms. Dickens saw her hopes fade when Bill de Blasio became the mayoral front-runner and the Progressive Caucus gained strength. Neither supports her candidacy.